


Library Pictures (And that's where you're wrong)

by Iron_Tony604



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bad Parenting, Child Abuse, F/M, Fluff, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Howard Stark's Bad Parenting, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Protective Avangers, Protective Steve Rogers, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-08
Updated: 2016-03-28
Packaged: 2018-04-13 14:57:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4526445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iron_Tony604/pseuds/Iron_Tony604
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve Rogers is one of the most famous guys of Shield High and together with his best friends that include all the Avengers, except Tony, school life couldn't be any better until this one day, Tony comes to school and Steve for the first time sees him not as an annoying, narcissistic brat, Tony always pretend to be. This is the day Steve starts to realize that Tony Stark is a boy with many secrets and a mask placed on himself, that even fools Natasha and together with his friends he slowly gains Tony's trust and gets behind his secrets. <br/>The secrets that are more terrible than everyone first thought and while trying to help Tony out of his hell life, Steve realizes how deeply in love he actually is with this genius and maybe, maybe Tony even returns his feelings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!   
> So this is the first time I am writing a fan fiction and I hope you all are going to enjoy this, but please be nice, because first time and everything. ;D   
> Uhm, yes, have fun reading this and if you liked it, please leave kudos or comments, if you have ideas, or want to say something. I would really appreciate it and also it would help getting my lazy ass up and writing more chapters. ;)

‘I see your monsters  
I see your pain  
Tell me your problems  
I’ll chase them away  
I’ll be your lighthouse  
I’ll make it okay  
When I see your monsters  
I’ll stand there so brave  
And chase them all away’  
\- Katie Sky, Monsters

________________________________

 

Chapter I

“I was with this friend of mine on the weekend and you know, we have been friends for like ten years, but there was never something going on between us. So we went to his house and watched a movie, nothing special, but then all of a sudden he just honked my boob! HONKED!” Pepper shrieked, completely outraged.  
“Can you believe this?!”  
“Wait,” Clint interrupted her, “What boobs?”  
This earned him a harsh slap from Natasha and a death glare from Pepper.  
Bruce, Thor, Rhodey and I just laughed.  
We were sitting in the cafeteria for lunch break, like on any other school day and were talking about stupid weekend stories.  
Clint and Natasha were placed in front of me. Clint like always couldn’t hold back his stupid comments and was now rubbing his sore cheek, while Natasha was being her usual scary self, who seemed completely unfazed by the whole situation.  
Bruce, who was next to me fiddling with his shirtsleeves, couldn’t hold back a giggle, but blushed like a tomato when he saw Betty Ross walking into the cafeteria halls.  
I poked him in the side and wiggled my eyebrows at him, which caused him to blush an even deeper shade of red, if that was possible.  
“Dude, you should just talk to her already,” I told him.  
“Yeah man, you’ve had a crush on her since junior class,” Rhodey butted in.  
He sat next to Pepper stabbing his food like it personally insulted him, what probably was the reason why Pepper was staring at him with a raised eyebrow.  
“What? I just don’t like broccoli man, I really don’t like it,” he answered to Peppers critical expression.  
“Why? What’s wrong with it?”  
“They look like small trees, but they’re not. They’re just a cheap imitation and they taste awful!” He complained and stabbed them even more forcefully.  
“Well, as interesting as Rhodey’s broccoli problem is, I’d really like to go back to Bruce’s tragic love story because I’m pretty sure she’s got a crush on you too, Bruce,” Jane said from her spot on Thor’s lap and - what a miracle, they weren’t kissing for once!  
“I must agree with my beautiful love,” Thor boomed and promptly they went back to hanging on each other’s mouths again.  
I rolled my eyes at them and was about to turn back to Bruce, who was still busy drooling over Betty, when I saw Tony Stark strolling into the cafeteria.  
He was wearing a thick sweater with his hood pulled over his head, even though it was extremely hot outside.  
“Look at that, seems like Tony Stark is freezing his ass of in the middle of summer. Apparently he really doesn’t have feelings,” I laughed and the others turned to look at Tony.  
He dragged himself to an empty table, placed his tray in front of him and actually looked quiet sad, what made me start to regret my words.  
I felt Bruce tense up next to me and saw Rhodey and Pepper exchange concerned looks.  
“Maybe Anthony catched a cold,” Thor thought out loud.  
“He’s probably still hangover from the party yesterday,” Clint threw in.  
“Uhm, sorry guys, but we…” Pepper pointed at Tony and stood up, Rhodey close on her trail.  
“Just a moment,” he said and then they left.  
I watched them go over to Tony, who slowly raised his head when they came into his view. It somehow looked… painful.  
“Did we say something wrong?” Clint asked looking into the round.  
I just shrugged and Natasha shook her head.  
“They are probably just checking, you know… best friend duties and all,” she pointed out.  
“Hm. Maybe…” Clint agreed and turned back to eating his meal.  
But somehow I couldn’t take my eyes off of the trio in front of me. Rhodey and Pepper officially belonged to our group, but they were always there for Tony, even though he was kind of an ass sometimes.  
I watched Pepper try to pull off Tony’s hood, but he just slapped her away and then turned towards me and our eyes locked. His chocolate brown eyes were resting on mine for just a few seconds and there was sadness in them. It made me wonder, because Tony was one of the loudest, snarkiest people I knew. He always seemed to know everything better, couldn’t stop making jokes out of everything and everyone, was always out partying and drinking and slept with everyone. That was Tony Stark. Well, the Tony I heard of at least because actually I never really talked to him and therefore shouldn’t judge him, though I just couldn’t help but feel incredibly annoyed by him. He really made me want to tear my fucking hair out sometimes, with these stupid comments he was constantly throwing at teachers and these idiotic jokes that came out of his mouth, but he was never ever sad.  
Anyways, in the moment our eyes met I thought I saw someone different and it made my chest tighten and - wait… was that a bruise under his eye? But before I could question it any further he turned his head again and the thought bruise was gone. Maybe it was just the light?  
“Sometimes I think Tony isn’t always the boy he pretends to be,” Bruce murmured next to me and I gave him a curious look before I went back to watching Tony.  
Tony whispered something to Rhodey and Pepper gave him a hug before they came back to us with smiles plastered on their faces that couldn’t quiet mask all of the concern they were trying to hide.  
“Is everything alright?” I asked when they were close enough to hear me.  
They nodded.  
I didn’t believe them.  
From the corner of my eye I saw Tony stand up, his food untouched. With three large steps he was at the bin and threw his whole meal away before he put the tray back and left the room.  
I frowned.  
“I’ve never seen him like this before,” I said.  
“Yes. That’s because people can be really ignorant when it comes to him,” Pepper snapped.  
“Huh?” I looked at her questionably, shocked at her outburst when she met my gaze and promptly apologized.  
“I am sorry, Steve. I didn’t mean it like that. Everyone knows you don’t like Tony. It’s just that sometimes, it really pisses me off how people think about him. I mean, he’s still a person and he still has feelings, but sometimes it seems like people forget that and then they’re like ‘Huh? What’s wrong with Stark?’ but hell, he‘s just a person too and ugh, I am truly sorry, it’s nothing against you. You know, the whole situation with him sometimes stresses me out and…”  
“Pepper, Pepper!” Rhodey interrupted her, “Breathe!”  
She took a deep breath.  
I was stunned, but couldn’t stop the small trace of guilt that was creeping up in the back of my mind because I had to admit, she was right.  
The school bell rang before anyone could say anything and, relieved that I had a reason to go, I grabbed my stuff and left the room. Still, I couldn’t forget the faces the others had pulled, because in every single one was a trace of guilt visible too.  
For a moment I just wandered down the hall, not sure what I actually wanted to do, when I remembered I had to go to my next class. My mood got brighter when I realized I had history now, which was, along with art, my favorite class, but then I saw Tony entering the room and remembered that, right, he had history with me too.  
I watched him, while I searched an empty chair and sat down, but he was too occupied in whatever the hell he was doing, that he didn’t notice.  
What, to be honest, I was grateful for because I was pretty sure I looked like a total creep staring at him, what I also noticed I was doing really often today.  
When I finally turned my view away from him, it was only because Mr. Coulson, our history teacher, strode into the room.  
He greeted us with a smile and a ‘good morning’ to everyone, which we returned and then he started his lesson. For a while everything was normal, except for Tony, who was oddly silent today, which even earned him a few concerned looks from Coulson, who was practically inviting him to make his jokes. Still, Tony stayed quiet and then suddenly stood up and went out of the room. Coulson gave him a silent nod before Tony opened the door and was gone.  
I furrowed my eyebrows.  
Did this happen more often?  
Did I just never notice it?  
It seemed like it because Rhodey, Pepper and now even Coulson were behaving like they were used to this.  
Classes went on, but Tony was gone for the rest of the day.  
Pepper apologized for her outburst the next break, but when I asked her where Tony was, she shut down completely. Rhodey didn’t want to talk about it either and while Bruce seemed to have at least a small idea about what was going on, Clint, Natasha, Jane and Thor were just as clueless as I was.  
So when I could finally go home, I was suspicious but also happy to get away from all this mess, that school was the cause of.  
“Hi mum,” I called, when I went through the front door.  
“Hi sweetie!” She called back from the kitchen, “I made your favorite food today.”  
Smiling brightly I sat down at the kitchen table and waited till my mom set a plate of tacos down in front of me that I happily devoured in record time.  
“Steven! You are eating like someone who has been starving for days,” she laughed and took my plate away.  
“Hey, I wasn’t finished yet!” I scowled and tried to get the plate back, but Mom was faster and soon I slumped back down in my seat, frustrated and pouting.  
“Don’t pout, just promise you won’t eat so fast when I give you back the plate and tell me something about your school day,” she winked at me and I smiled, took back the plate and told her a little bit about my day.  
Somehow I ended up mentioning Tony as well. I didn’t know why I did it, but it just felt like I should tell somebody and so this whole thing came up again, but what confused me even more was that my mom somehow seemed to know something about Tony too. When I mentioned Tony for the first time, I noticed the dark shadow that suddenly washed over her, she seemed lost in her thoughts, after I told her about him and when I asked her, what was wrong, she just shrugged and told me, that Tony is actually a really nice guy, just extremely misunderstood. And this confused me the most, because, hell, even my mom seems to know something about him and I am pretty sure I never ever talked about Tony with her before.  
“How do you know him, mom?” I asked, louder than I actually wanted.  
“I’ve seen him at the hospital where I work a few times,” she explained and then added “I don’t trust his father.”  
With that said she turned away and signaled that that was all she was going to say about Tony, what I really appreciated since it was quiet exhausting, so I dropped the topic as well.  
However, when I finally went to bed that night, I stayed awake for a long time, just staring at the ceiling and thought about everything I learned about Tony that day and when I laid there like that, moon shining through the window and soft blankets wrapped around my body, I thought that maybe, maybe Tony held a little bit more to him than I first thought.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeay everybody say hello to the second chapter! I am sorry it took so long but school started again and I hadn't time and besides that I had a headache that nearly killed me!   
> Well, anyways I hope you like this chapter. It's still the beginning and therefore it happens not so much but I am planning Tony angst for the next chapters so be aware! ;D

Chapter 2

Tony didn’t show up for the whole next week and then half of the week after. 

It was Wednesday morning and I was sitting half asleep in my seat, drawing stupid sketches of my teacher in my notebook when suddenly the door burst open and Tony stumbled into the room. 

My head nearly dropped off my hand, that currently was the only thing holding it up, at the sudden bang of the door. 

“Well, seems like Mr. Stark delights us with his presence after all.”   
Mr. Harrison looked at Tony with a disapproving glare. 

Tony, who was still trying to catch his breath, made himself tall in front of our teacher, shrugged and responded with a smirk   
“Yeah, couldn’t disappoint you, could I?” 

Yep, he definitely was his usual self again, I thought. 

Mr. Harrison snorted angrily but Tony had already turned around and searched for an empty chair, which happened to be next to me. 

Tony sighed when he saw this but I was determined to finally set things right with him, because I obviously misjudged him and behaved like an asshole towards him. 

Besides… he somehow looked cute like this, hair still tousled from bed, but his eyes were already sparkling with excitement, his sweatshirt hanging from his lean but muscular form and his tanned skin glowing in the morning sun that was shining through the window. 

I smiled at that, however when I realized what I just thought I blushed furiously!

Oh my gosh, were did that come from?!

I looked around warily, did anyone see? 

No, of course not… how should others see my thoughts! Keep it together Rogers! 

Tony slumped down next to me. 

“Hey Ken, what’s up?” 

Ken? What the hell?

I just sighed and rolled my eyes. Typical Stark. 

“Well fine then, don’t answer.” 

Then I remembered that I wanted to be nicer to him, so I took a deep breath and answered. 

“No, no uhm… I am fine and you?” 

He looked up at me with wide eyes, as if he was shocked I actually cared enough to answer, then he shrugged it off and smiled. 

A real genuine smile and it made my heart stutter. 

Wait what?  
Why heart?   
Why are you betraying me? 

“I feel great”, he responded. 

“Can I have a paper from you and borrow your pencils? I forgot everything, because my alarm didn’t go off to wake me.”

“ ‘Course, here”, I shoved my notebook and a pencil towards him and he took what he needed gratefully.   
A comfortable silence fell over us, while I tried to not concentrate on how good Tony smelled too much. 

He smelled like coffee and something different, something that I couldn’t quite match, something Tony like.

“You smell good”, I complimented him and then looked away, shocked about my own words, because damn, what the hell is wrong with me?

“Uhm thanks, I guess?”

“Yeah, sorry about that, it just kind of slipped, forget it.” 

Silence. 

“Okay, spill it, what do you want?” 

I looked up at that.   
His chocolate brown eyes were fixed on me and there was suspicion in them. 

“N-nothing. I want nothing, just trying to be nice to you”, I answered stunned. 

“Okay, could you stop that please, because you’re acting a bit weird and not like you usually do so this makes me really uncomfortable”, he grumbled. 

“Nope!”, I replied before I could think about it. 

Tony just looked at me disbelievingly, shook his head and when the bell rang to signal the end of the lesson, he grabbed his stuff and disappeared faster than I could blink. 

I didn’t see him again until lunchtime. 

Tired from the day already, I walked into the cafeteria halls and searched for my friends.

I spotted them at the table we always sat at during lunch. 

With a smile I walked up to them and sat down next to Clint. 

“Hey Cap”, Clint greeted me enthusiastically. They started to call me Cap since I became the captain of our football team. 

“You are too happy for school”, I grumbled and poked my meal with my fork. 

“Hello friends!”, boomed Thor and together with Jane, followed by Rhodey, Pepper, Bruce and Natasha he sat down at the table. 

“I talked with Tony today and he helped me with my math homework”, Clint explained happily. “I finally understood probability calculations. I am going to rock the next   
exam!”

I laughed at that. 

“Yeah, I feel guilty, because of what Pepper said and tried to be nice to him today in English. At first he didn’t seem to mind but then he suddenly asked me if I wanted something from him and when I said no he was confused and walked away”, I told them and looked at Pepper with questioning eyes. 

“You can’t really expect him to become your best friend just because you were nice to him for five minutes when you mostly ignored him the past years”, Pepper laughed at me and I pouted. 

“I didn’t want that either but he practically ran away from me”, I argued. 

“Why do you suddenly care about him?”, Rhodey asked me and I didn’t miss the threatening undertone in his sentence. 

“I don’t know. I just think we…”, I started but was interrupted by Natasha. 

“Well, we weren’t really nice to him and we actually didn’t even have a reason to be so mean to him. Pepper just made us realize that we might have misjudged him and we want to make it right.” 

“Indeed, I agree with lady Natasha! We didn’t have the right to behave the way we did towards Anthony and I want to apologize by showing him my kindness!”, exclaimed Thor and smiled brightly. 

“We could start by sitting with him during lunch”, Bruce suggested and pointed towards Tony who was sitting alone at an empty table. 

“Sure! Let’s go!”, I agreed and stood up. 

With my friends close behind me and my tray in my hands, I walked over to him. 

He didn’t acknowledge us till we stood next to him. Slowly he looked up, suspicion glimmering in his eyes and carefully chewing his meal. 

“Hey Tony”, I greeted him and sat down next to him. The others followed me. 

“What’s up Tones?”, Rhodey smiled at him and the others greeted him as well. Pepper hugged him and sat down on his other side. 

Tony looked around with furrowed eyebrows. 

“Okay. Who are you and what did you do to the other guys?”, he asked and looked at every single one of us. 

“Nothing. We just wanted to keep you company”, I smiled. 

“Aha”, he mumbled and went back to his meal again. 

“How was your day?”, Natasha asked him after an uncomfortable silence, where nothing was heard but the clinking of the dishes and the murmured conversations of the   
other students around us.

Okay, this was awkward.   
Really, really awkward, but we just didn’t know how to act around him. 

“Good, I guess?”, he answered, not looking up. 

Natasha, Clint, Thor and I exchanged helpless looks. 

“Thanks for your help in math by the way. I would have never managed it without you”, Clint tried again to start a conversation with him. 

“No problem.” 

Pepper and Rhodey rolled their eyes at our attempt to get a conversation going with him and Bruce was desperately trying to hide his smirk. 

“Sooo”, I tried again, “What are you doing after school to…”

“Okay, stop! Seriously, what is wrong with all of you? Can’t a guy just eat his damn meal without stupid people like you trying to bother him?!”, Tony interrupted me. 

“Dude. We were just trying to be nice to you!”, Clint said, raising his arms in defeat. 

“Well, then stop it. It’s annoying!” 

He grabbed his tray with his not even half finished food on it, walked to the bin and threw it away before angrily stomping out of the cafeteria. 

“I assume, this didn’t go as well as we expected”, Thor exclaimed. 

“No shit Sherlock!”, Clint responded, rolling his eyes. 

“I think it was funny”, snickered Rhodey. 

Pepper giggled and Bruce hid his grinning face behind his hands. 

“What? At least we tried”, I argued and crossed my arms over my chest. 

“Yes, and you failed”, Bruce laughed. 

“I’m going to check on Tony and explain him a little bit of your situation. You coming with me Rhodes?”, Pepper announced. 

Rhodey nodded and they both left the table. 

“Jesus! That was embarrassing!”, I groaned and placed my head on the table. 

“I think Tony was just confused. I would be confused too if people who never gave a damn thing about me suddenly wanted to talk to me and asked me how my day was”, Jane giggled in Thor’s lap. 

That did make sense to be honest. 

I sighed and got even more frustrated when the bell rang, because class was the last thing I wanted to think about in that moment. 

The rest of the day was quite uneventful. 

We still tried our best to be nice to Tony whenever we saw him but he didn’t even look at us anymore and, even though I thought that was just rude, I kept trying anyways. 

It went on like this for weeks.   
We tried to be nice to Tony and Tony simply shrugged us off, as if we were just annoying bugs buzzing around his head. 

I smiled at him when I passed him in the hallway but he just looked away.   
When we all sat down next to him in the cafeteria he just stood up and left.   
The only ones he talked to were obviously Pepper and Rhodey, since they were his best friends already.   
Sometimes he would talk to Bruce or Jane, because they were all science nerds and in this case the only ones who could actually understand him a little bit when he started rambling about equations and all this stuff. 

But other than that, he ignored us and basically pretended like we didn’t even exist.   
Besides that, I caught myself thinking about him far too often. His nice smell and those warm brown eyes that sparkled with excitement every time he talked about something he loved!   
All these things made me so much more frustrated when he rejected us that I got to the point where I just wanted to grab him and shake him until he wanted to be friends with us as well. 

And then, shortly before we all thought it was time to give up, Tony started to open up a bit. 

He smiled back at me when we passed us in the hallways, what made my heart flutter, though I would never admit that out loud. He helped Clint during math and they even started doing pranks together.   
He started to talk to Natasha, even though I was fairly sure that he was still mildly scared of her.   
He helped Thor in physics and managed to get Bruce to talk to Betty and didn’t flee from us in the cafeteria.   
I was so glad about that that I started to ignore his insulting jokes and comments he still uttered now and then and sometimes even started to laugh about them. 

This was the best time I’ve ever had in school, because Tony somehow made everything funnier and better, and by opening up to us we loosened up ourselves and I think he even made the bond between all of us stronger. 

It couldn’t have been any better, but then everything got even worse than before! 

Of course!


	3. 3. Chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry it took me so long! I had so much to do and still have but I couldn't let you all wait any longer so I finished this chapter as quickly as I could and please, don't be angry at me! It will take time till I update but i certainly will and I am so happy of all of your comments and kudos. They really keep me going.   
> So sorry but here it is now! ;)
> 
> Warnings: Mentions of self harm, alcoholism, graphic description of child abuse! So a lot of Tony angst. Anyone who can't read this, please don't, I don't want to trigger anything! 
> 
> Tony fluff will be in the next chapter. This chapter is in Tony's POV, so Steve will be mentioned but not actually be in this chapter, but in the next one there will be Stony and love and fluff and cookies and kisses and everything will go better somehow.

Tony

I didn’t know what got into the others, that they suddenly seemed to like me, but I never actually had something like this before. Of course there were Pepper and Rhodey, but they often met with Steve and Bruce, Natasha, Clint, Thor and Jane.   
I didn’t fit in there. I knew that too and I accepted it. 

Hanging up with my bots in the workshop was anyways what I rather enjoyed. I could be myself there, hide in my thoughts, in my own world and never come back. But eventually I had to, either I have to go to school or my father made sure to remind me again what a failure I am. 

It doesn’t matter anyways. 

I know I am not a person someone would love to hang around with, I know I was stupid, a failure, the freak of the Stark family, someone who bring everyone, who tries to get nearer, down with him. 

At first I was sad, angry even, but I didn’t know where to put my rage, so I put it on myself. There are scars on my upper arm, neatly put next to each other with a kitchen knife.

It felt goo everytime I did it, so everyday after school or after my father beat me up again I let my anger go and made a long, neatly cut on my arm.   
No one noticed. Of course not. 

I watched the red liquid drip from the cut, watched it forming a puddle on the white floor. It was a nice color play and for a long time it was the only thing that kept me going. To know that I have control over me, that I can put marks on myself, that I cant watch the colors mix on the floor and then I exaggerated it. Suddenly the pool of blood became big and my vision blurry and then there was nothing. 

When I woke up again it was in a hospital, my mum sat next to me, looked at me with red, puffy eyes. 

Did she cry?   
Certainly not over me. 

“You have to stop” she said, “Your are stronger than this.”

“I know”, was my answer. So I stopped. 

My father beat me up again, when I got home.  
I didn’t show up at school for over a week. 

The whole thing was buried and never brought up again.   
I started searching for something knew and I found dad’s alcohol. I drank. Dad didn’t miss the bottles anyway, he was to out of his mind on most days and he had enough   
money to buy new ones. 

It was good, even thought alcohol tasted like shit.   
At least it made me forget the pain. 

And then Steve started to be nice to me and his friends too. 

It was cool to do more things with Pepper and Rhodey and it was funny to teach Clint math or Thor physics and it was cool to talk science with Bruce and Jane. At least they understood a little bit. It was cool to eat Pizza with Steve or to talk to Natasha, even thought I still find her scary and I didn’t drink so much anymore, because I had friends now and could do something with them to take my mind off. My father was gone too, at least for two months, because of a business trip. 

Jarvis took care of me. I liked Jarvis, he was warm and actually proud of me, when I came up with new ideas for robots. 

I thought that as along as the others liked me, I had to enjoy it. It wouldn’t last long, but it felt good, while it lasted, even though I first was suspicious. 

It was Friday after school now, I was at home in my workshop, fiddling with some wires for my new robot I would call “Butterfingers”, so that “You” and “Dum-E” would have another friend, while I was in school. 

The music blasted loud into my ears, when my thoughts drifted towards Steve.   
I was pretty sure I had a crush on him and even though I knew he would never feel the same, the feelings that I got when I saw him, where nice. 

They are all meeting at Rhodey’s this evening, but I didn’t wanted to come, even though they asked me. 

I didn’t want to annoy them. I would spoil the party anyways with my awkwardness. They would talk about school problems and football, of failed relationships and the new movies the wanted to watch or something like that, maybe even about how annoying their parents are. I really didn’t want to talk about that.

I don’t have school problems and no idea of football actually, I never had a girlfriend and I prefer reading books than watching movies. All in all I really wouldn’t fit in there.   
But I missed Steve’s laughter and his warms. 

He really was warm, I like warm people, they make a change to my cold metal bots.   
I sighed and put the wires aside. 

My stomach growled, so I forced myself to stand up and move into the kitchen, after I shut the music down. 

My hair was greasy and I was covered in oil, so I showered first and changed into comfortable black shorts and an oversized black sweater before I went into the kitchen and made me a sandwich. 

I sat down at the kitchen table, ate and caught my thoughts always drifting off to a certain blond haired, muscular, tall guy that first didn’t like me and now somehow changed his mind.

A smile crept over my face, while I remembered strong hands, warm hugs and a deep voice, that made my heart flutter and my stomach twist. 

I imagined him saving me, telling me that everything will be okay now, that he will protect me and my father will never again get near me. Maybe even tells me, that I am not worthless and stupid, but that would be too much. It was just daydreaming after all.   
For a while I let my thoughts flow and my dreams warm me from the inside and then I heard a key turning in the front door and a coldness ran down my spine like ice needles prickling into my skin. 

My breath stuck. 

It was Friday evening and my dad just came home from his business trip.   
I was on my feet in seconds, Steve’s image vanished out of my thoughts, only coldness and darkness settled in my mind. 

I stuffed the last piece of the sandwich into my mouth and tried to get into my room as silent as I could, but to my misfortune my father stood at the staircase that lead up to my room. 

His nails dug into my mothers arm, she had a black eye and there was fear in her eyes, but she still managed to stand tall against him. 

“If you wouldn’t have been so stupid, maybe then I could have made a better deal!” Howard screamed. 

Mum flinched but held his gaze. 

“I wasn’t with you, when you made the deal. How can this be my fault?” She spat. 

“You whore!” He screamed and slapped her across the face. 

I flinched. 

“How dare you speak like that to me!”

Howard threw Maria across the hall. She slammed against the cupboard and dazed looked up at him. 

Then she giggled. 

“What? What is this funny now?!” Dad’s face was red with anger, he look like a volcano, shortly before it explodes, but my mum just laughed hysterically. 

I was scared.   
My heart thumbed against my ribcage as if it wanted to jump out of my breast and gallop away. Adrenaline rushed through my veins and I held the door so tight, my knuckles turned white. 

“Tell me!” Howard roared and my breath hitched. 

He slapped mum again. 

She glared up at him. 

“You are pathetic. An old man who knows his time is up soon. You are desperate and afraid of letting go, so you let your fear out on me and your son. Especially your son, because you know he is smarter than you and he will lead Stark Industries in a new and better area and you will be forgotten. You are a coward, Howard!” Mum growled ad then   
stood up with a pained moan. 

Dad was terrible calm now. 

He took long deep breathes and then looked up at Maria again. 

“Where is he now?” He asked silently. 

“What?” Mum questioned. 

“Tony!” His voice got darker now. “Where is he?”

“I don’t know. What do you want with him?” Now mum had fear in her voice. 

Howard didn’t answer, but there was rage in his eyes and a hint of madness. 

I stumbled back into the kitchen. 

Fear rushed like a wave through my body. 

I have to go away! Dad is crazy!   
I have to go or he will do something really bad with me!

Frantically I looked around and searched for a way out, my gaze just focused on a window when I stumbled into the kitchen table and a loud screech echoed through the   
house as the table leg scratched over the floor. 

Shit! Ohshitshitshitshitshit!

The door slammed open and dad looked at me as if I had destroyed everything he ever had. 

Maybe I did. 

“Dad, I’m sorry!” I tried and put my hands in front of me in a weak attempt to protect me from my father. 

“It should!” He screamed and before I even could start my escape he had already grabbed me and punched me in the face. 

I heard a sickening crunch, what probably was my nose breaking, but before the pain even reached my brain I already lay on the floor gaining one kick after another. 

“You little shit! You destroyed everything! You are worthless and pathetic! No one loves you, know one likes you! You are nothing but a punching bag for me!” He screamed while he kicked me, then he hauled me up, took the hood of my sweater and ripped it over my head.

I loved that sweater, my luck that the fabric was to thick my father couldn’t rip it apart. It was a small victory, but it was good enough that my father couldn’t destroy everything I loved. 

He threw the sweater away, grabbed my hair and slammed me against the kitchen counter. 

I wondered where mum was. 

“Sit up, boy! Back towards me!” Howard ordered. 

I squeezed my eyes shut and did as I was told. At least I knew this part.   
Tears welled up in my eyes when I heard his belt open, not an eye blink later the metal of the belt crashed down on my back and my skin broke where it hit me. 

I bit my lips as hard as I could to not scream. My body shook, there was nothing but pain.   
The belt slammed again and again, till I slumped down and then and then it still didn’t stop. 

When it stopped I didn’t recognized it and just lay there, breathing deeply, trying desperately to not sob, so dad wouldn’t get any more angry. 

“Wait here!” Dad ordered and now I realized the beating had stopped. 

I didn’t answer, but dad didn’t wait for one and just strode out of the kitchen.   
I laid there for a while, trying to calm down, resting before it would start again, when my gaze fell back to the window. 

In a blink of an eye I stood, my vision swam, but suddenly energy streamed in waves through my blood. 

I grabbed my sweater, threw it over my head and opened the window.   
Footsteps echoed loudly in the hall, my heart beat faster, adrenalin rushed through me. 

I just managed to open the window, when dad came in again. 

He roared angrily and jumped after me. 

I was halfway through the window, when Howard managed to grab my leg. 

“Come back you little rat!”

“Let go!” I screamed and kicked frantically. 

Howard pulled at my leg. I scratched my stomach over the window, my hands clutched desperately on the wall outside and when he nearly managed to pull me in again, I finally kicked him as hard in his face as I could. 

Dad screamed and let me go, so I finally managed to scramble out of the window and ran away. 

“You idiotic bastard! Don’t think you can ever come back!” Was all I heard, before I turned around the corner and was gone. 

It was dark outside and cold, it rained and my socks and clothes were soaked through.   
I didn’t knew where to go, my phone was at home with my shoes and slowly the adrenalin washed away and the pain started to creep back into my body. 

I sobbed loudly.   
No one was here, no one could hear me, so it was okay. 

Because of the lack of shoes my feet got colder and colder and my fingers were white. 

Everything hurt, but where should I go?  
I can’t go back!

Pepper was too far away, so maybe Rhodey?  
Yes, Rhodey was a good plan, his mother was nice and he helped me before.   
I walked a little bit over ten minutes through the city, until I saw his house at the end of the road. 

My eyes felt heavy, but the lights were on, so Rhodey was home, that was good. It looked warm in there and it was so cold outside. 

I stumbled the last steps and held tightly on the doorknob, before I managed to get my frozen finger to pull the bell. 

Then I slipped and fell. 

I pushed my knees against my chest and held them tightly, when the door finally opened. 

“Jesus, Tony!” I heard Rhodey’s voice. 

I couldn’t say anything. I was too tired. 

“Mum! Mum! You have to help me!”

Was there panic in his voice?  
Then his face got in my vision and I felt his arms on my upper body. He helped me up, but I couldn’t help it and fell back in his arms. 

“Who is it?” I heard somebody say, maybe Clint?

Shit, Fuck! They were all here today! I forgot!

“Clint, go back to the living room, bring Pepper, but no one else and then wait there, I will be right back”, Rhodey ordered. 

So it was Clint then. 

“What is it, Rhodey, you called me?” And there was Mrs. Rhodes. 

Relied flooded my body and I relaxed. 

“Mum, please help me, it’s Tony”, Rhodey sounded like he would cry any minute now.   
I don’t want him to be sad. It is all my fault! I spoiled his party. 

“I’m sorry”, I whispered. 

“Sssh, it’s okay Tony. Don’t be, it’s not your fault”, Rhodey soothed. 

“Oh God”, Mrs. Rhodes gasped and I had to look really ugly when the where both so shocked. 

They helped me into the house and closed the door behind me. It really was warm in here. 

I barely could hold my eyes open. 

“Tony, you have to stay awake, okay?” Mrs. Rhodes spoke to me in a hard voice. 

I gave her a sluggish nod and slumped into her. 

“Rhodey, help me getting him into the guest room.”

I felt myself being lifted off of the ground and before I even realized it, my eyes fell shut and I faded away into darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MUHAHAHA Cliffhanger! I am sorry but if I wouldn't have ended it here, it would have certainly took another week before I could have posted it and I really didn't wanted that to happen.   
> Comments and Kudos will be appreciated. Love you my readers! <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again sorry it took so long, but I am happy I finished this chapter now! I post it as a christmas gift!
> 
> I hope you all had a wonderful time and got wonderful presents! ;)
> 
> This chapter is much more comfort and fluff. Hope you like it ;)

Steve

“If you hurt him, I will kill you!” Rhodey warned me. 

I groaned. 

“I am not in love with him!”

“You are. Don’t deny yourself Rogers”, Clint laughed.

“Please can we just stop it?” I begged, already feeling the blush creeping up my face. 

“Aww look at that, now he is blushing like an idiot. If that doesn’t say it all”, Natasha grinned. 

“I hate you!”

“No you don’t”, Pepper smiled warmly at me and I couldn’t help it but look at her pleadingly. 

“Come on admit it”, Bucky nudged me. 

“Okay, okay! I really started to like him more than a “normal” friendship, but it doesn’t matter, because he doesn’t love me, because I behaved like an asshole, okay!” I screamed and then hid my face under my arms. 

The room was silent at first and I thought I said something wrong, but when I peeked under my arm, I saw all of them smiling manically at me. 

“What?” I asked muffled because of my arms covering my mouth. 

“You are a lovesick monkey”, Bucky laughed. 

“Wha…Why?” I asked bewildered. 

“Because he loves you too”, Bruce helped me. 

“He? You mean Tony? But… I was….”, I started to argue, but was interrupted by Bucky again. 

“Don’t say it”, Bucky put his hand in front of me, as if this could stop me from saying anything, “If I hear you saying, that you behaved like an asshole, one more time, I am going to punch you in the face.”

“Just for the record”, Pepper added, “You were being an asshole, but Tony can be an asshole too, if he wants to, so it’s really not that bad.”

“Thanks”, I said sarcastically. 

Pepper just shrugged and popped another gummy bear in her mouth. 

I just pouted and glared at the sea of candy’s covering the table. 

“Well, lets just watch a movie”, Bruce started, when we heard the doorbell rang. 

A few minutes later, Thor, followed by Jane strode in, bellowing loudly : “Hello my beloved friends. I am deeply sorry, that my Lady Jane and I attend to this meeting at such a late time, but I promised her a date on our anniversary day!”

“It’s okay big guy, come on, sit down, both of you and take some candies”, Rhodey answered. 

Jane just rolled her eyes at her boyfriend and placed herself near Natasha and Pepper, whereas Thor threw himself at me.   
He knocked the air out of me and I groaned loudly under his weight. 

“Now my friend Steven, I hope you managed further steps in your relationship with Tony”, he smiled widely. 

“No! Not you too!” I groaned again. 

“No he didn’t”, Clint huffed. 

“Traitor”, I mumbled. 

Thor looked shocked. 

“That is indeed tragic, because I hoped he would attend our meeting this time”, Thor scowled. 

“No, he still thinks, he doesn’t fit in here”, Pepper said sadly. 

“Then we must change his opinion!” Thor exclaimed determinedly. 

“Yeah, we try, but he is stubborn as fuck!”, Rhodey threw his hands in the air in an attempt to show his frustration. 

I frowned. 

How can Tony think, he doesn’t fit in here?   
Does he think he is weird? Awkward? Difficult?   
Well we are all a bunch of weird, awkward and difficult people. Tony would fit perfectly.   
Not that I think he is weird, awkward or difficult, but maybe he thinks it.

“I am going to the bathroom”, I announced and marched out of the room, curious looks following me, until I shut the door.

I sighed, when I looked into the mirror. 

Am I really in love with Tony Stark?  
Well, it’s certainly not entirely untrue…

Tony was like fire, his brown eyes were sharp. There was an intelligence behind them, that no one but him could grasp, but they were also warm. When he was excited, there was a spark in them, making them look golden.   
He had this kind of bed head everyday, as if he just woke up, his brown hair sticking up in every direction, making him look adorable.   
Tony was smaller than I was and his muscles were lean, so in contrast to me, he looked much more fragile and I really just wanted to wrap him in a blanket and protect him with all I have. 

But Tony was also loud and obnoxious, he seemed like he didn’t care when people are mean to him, just brushing it off, as if it was dust, even though he does. He built himself an armor and put on a mask to protect himself. With all his stupid comments and his sometimes terrible behavior he tries to warn people, to keep them away from him. His soft core was surrounded by fire and when you get near him to fast and to hard, he is going to burn you.   
It’s his kind of protection, I think, it’s the only thing he really has and fuck… I am so totally in love with him.   
I want to get to his soft core, I want to be the one getting warmed by the fire surrounding him, I want to be the one he goes to, when his life is awful and I want to hold him, protect him and kiss him.

Slowly I let the breath out, I didn’t know I was holding, splashed some cold water in my face and turned to open the bathroom door, when the doorbell rang again.   
Huh? Is there still someone missing?

When I opened the bathroom door and stepped out, I heard Rhodey and his mom yelling, but it wasn’t the “argue” yelling, it was the kind of “I am afraid and don’t know what to do” sort of yelling.   
Curiously I walked towards the hall I heard them from and stopped shortly behind Natasha. The others already standing in the doorway to the hall with a worried expression on their face, so I got worried to. 

“What happened?” I asked. 

Silence. 

“What is it? What happened?” I tried again, more frantically this time and then I got a glimpse of who exactly was in the hall. It wasn’t only Pepper, Rhodey and Rhodey’s mom, but Tony too.   
Fear dropped like a stone into the pit of my stomach and I nearly got sick right here on the floor, when I saw him. 

His one eye was black, his lip split. He didn’t have any shoes on, was soaked through and looked barely conscious. 

“Steve?”

I blinked slowly, still too much in my trance state. 

“Steve!”

Only after Mrs. Rhodes screamed at me, I finally fell out of my trance and looked at her. 

“Call your mother, Steve. Tell her Tony is here and need help. Can you do this?”

I nodded numbly and fumbled my phone out of my pocket. 

“Come Rhodey, we are bringing him up in his room”, was the only thing I heard, before I dialed mom with shaky fingers and tried to slow my breathing. 

“Steve?” My mom finally answered the phone. 

“Hey mom”, I said with a shaky voice. 

“What is it Steve? You called me three times today, if this is another call about how your friends annoy you with their assumptions that you are I love with Tony Stark, what you totally are by the way, I am going to force you to massage my feet this evening”, My mom warned me and I needed to close my eyes and take a deep breath before I could say: “Mom, its Tony. He is here and he needs help and Mrs. Rhodes told me I should call you.”

For just a short time, the only thing I could here was my mom’s breath in the phone, before she answered: “On my way”, and hang up.

_

Tony

The first thing I realized when I woke up was, that I wasn’t lying in my bed and that I hurt all over.   
My back stung, I shivered but at the same time was soaked through with sweat and I needed a few minutes to remember what happened. 

When I did, my eyes shot open and I frantically tried to get off the bed, what succeeded in me, falling to the floor with a loud thud, that made me hurt more than before.   
I yelped, because of the pain shooting through my body and tried to calm down and slow my breathing. 

“Tony?” 

Who was that? Not dad, I am not at home, that’s not my room and… didn’t I went to Rhodey?   
Then, why was Steve speaking to me?

“Mom, come here! I think he is awake!” Steve called. 

I still sat behind the bed on the floor and Steve stood at the doorway, the reason I still couldn’t see him.   
My eyes were plastered on the floor under the bed and I really didn’t wanted to know how I ended up here.   
I am pretty sure I went to Rhodey last evening, so why wasn’t I in the room, they usually had ready for me… It couldn’t be, could it?   
I wasn’t that much out of my mind that I went to Steve’s instead of Rhodey’s home, wasn’t I?

 

Shit! Fuck! I doesn’t make sense. 

“Tony?”  
I jumped, when I felt someone’s hand, most likely Steve’s, on my elbow and than looked up at him with wide, fearful eyes.

Damn it, I really have to get my shit together!   
Stark men are made of iron!  
Stark men are made of iron!

I swallowed loudly before I answered. 

“What!”

“Hey, it’s okay. You don’t need to be afraid or something”, Steve smiled at me. This wonderful, wonderful smile, that reminded me of warm sunshine and sugar. 

“Don’t talk to me like I am a frightened puppy! I am not weak!” I hissed at him, instead of giving in to my urge to kiss him. 

Steve’s face fell and great, now he looked like I kicked his puppy.   
Guilt pooled in my gut but what’s said is said and maybe he sees what an asshole I am and ignores me again like he did before.   
At least then it wouldn’t be so painful as if he does it, when I got attached to him… more attached to him. 

I tried to stand up and groaned because of the pain flaring up my back. I stumbled and my vision blurred and again Steve’s hand was there to steady me, before I fell. When I got my balance I snapped my arm away from his hand, as if it would burn me and glared at him. 

Ashamed Steve retreated a little bit, but still looked at me with concern in his eyes. 

“Tony! I am so glad you are awake!” Now Steve’s mother stood at the doorway and okay, that seals it, I really was at Steve’s house. 

“Oh my god! I am so sorry! I thought I went to Rhodey last evening… I… I can… I” Panicking I looked between Mrs: Rogers and Steve and fuck that was embarrassing.  
“I am going home… I still have stuff to do and you know, I didn’t wanted to bother you!”

Fuck! Now Steve saw my scars, maybe he doesn’t know they are from my father. It easily could have been some stupid dorks from our school or I could have been hit by a car or something! Well, I think being hit by a car is much worse than what I have but still… 

I wanted to walk past them and escape home, where hopefully I can hide in my workshop until Monday, but Mrs. Rogers grabbed me, before I could and smiled warmly at me. 

“I am sorry mister, but you are not going before you healed completely.”

I looked up at her, bewildered.   
“But, why…?”

“Tony, there are people out here, that care about you. You were at Rhodes’ but Steve and I took you home to us, because I have more of my medical stuff here and I wanted to keep an eye on you”, Her eyes sparkled friendly, but there was a hint of sadness in them. 

I looked at Steve. He just smiled at me too. 

“You didn’t even like me!” I burst out and again, Steve got an ashamed look on his face. 

“I know I behaved like an asshole and I am sorry, but Tony, I like you as soon as I realized what an idiot I was, I tried to be better and…and I really like you Tony!” He apologized. 

Never ever someone apologized and then Steve comes and he didn’t even need to apologize! For what! I mean, I was an asshole too, still am, so… what does he want now?  
And then it hit me. Of course!

“If you need money, you could have just asked me, I have enough! Does the hospital need some charities?” I asked and looked back at Mrs. Rogers. 

She had a shocked look on her face and I recoiled, because, what did I do wrong now?

“Gosh Tony! We don’t need money, we just… we want to help you, okay? We like you and we care about you and that’s not, because we want something from you. We really just want to help you, because of you, because of you just being Tony”, Steve said. 

Mrs. Rogers had tears in her eyes and grabbed me again to push me against her. She slung her arms around my neck and hugged me. 

It was warm and wonderful and full of love, I couldn’t but soak it all in and melt against her.   
She sobbed and hugged me tighter. 

“Oh Tony! What is Howard doing to you!”

Oh, so Steve knew. 

“Nothing, its fine”, I said. 

“No! Tony it’s not fine! Nothing is fine! Howard is not in the right and we have to put a stop to it”, Mrs. Rogers answered and pushed back to look into my eyes. 

“You know we can’t! Howard is too powerful he just flicks with his fingers and everyone juts “forgets”. But it’s okay, I am used to it”, I explained. 

“Tony, we can’t just let him get away with it”, Steve said from behind me. 

“It really is fine. It’s just for two more years and then I am eighteen and can go. I survived this long, I can survive two more years”, I argued. 

No one said anything to it. I didn’t know if it was just because they gave up or they if they just let it drop for now, but I was relieved. 

“Okay, Tony, you are still going to stay with us, before we made an agreement. For now, you are just not going back, until your wounds are healed and even when they are healed, you can always still stay with us! But for now, I made some hot cocoa, come”, She dragged me out of the room and into the living room. 

Steve followed us and came into line next to me, grabbing my hand in his and smiling warmly at me. 

“Did you ever played “phase ten”?” he asked me with a loving tone and my heart stuttered. 

“No”, I mumbled and looked at the floor to hide my blush. 

“Then we really need to play it, its fun, you will see”, he said excitedly. 

I nodded and smiled back at him. 

His smile seemed to grow bigger with that and it just made this wonderful tingling feeling in my belly stronger. 

When we arrived in the living room, Steve and I sat down on the coach and a few minutes later Mrs. Rogers came back in, with a tray in her one hand, and phase ten in the other one. 

“Mom’s hot chocolate is the best in the world”, Steve exclaimed and took one cup for himself and the other for me. 

I held it with both of my hands, letting the warmth of the cup seek through me, before I took a huge gulp. 

The whipped cream on top of it got stuck on my nose and I nearly choked myself on one of the marshmallows but it was the best drink I ever had and after I put it back on the table I smiled at Steve, who laughed at me and then smiled back. 

“What is it?”, I asked grinning. 

“Your nose is full of whipped cream and you have a hot chocolate beard. It suits you!”, He laughed. 

Mrs. Rogers on my other side just shook her head grinning. 

For the rest of the evening we played card games, ate cookies and drank one hot chocolate after another. We laughed and mocked around and when this is what family actually is like… well, I totally ignored the longing in my chest, that wanted to have this every day. For now, I was happy and content and maybe, just maybe Steve really liked me! Maybe, we could even be more than fri


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry it took so long to update but I really don't know how to continue this story. If anyone has ideas please write it in the comments, I would be happy to read them or if someone has an idea for a new story. And a huge thanks to all the readers that still stick to the story even though I take so long with the updates. ;)   
> Love ya ;*

Tony 

It took nearly two weeks for all the worst injuries to heal and even then there still were marks on my skin that showed Dad's hand work. But this two weeks even though his wounds stung like hell had been his best and happiest weeks in his whole life and he desperately wished they would last forever. 

"I bet this is what you look like when you are an adult", Steve laughed and pointed at the actor on the small TV. 

We were sitting in Steve's living room, watching Sherlock Holmes and Steve couldn't stop but annoy Tony with telling him how the actor will be his future looking.   
I rolled my eyes at him. 

"I will not look like Robert Downey jr. when I am older!" I grumbled and crossed my arms over my chest. 

"You look cute when you are pouting", Steve smiled warmly at me. 

"I don't look cute. Puppies look cute and I am not a puppy!"

"No you are not. Only when we take your toys away!" Steve laughed. 

"Shut it!" I groaned and shoved him playfully. 

Steve still laughed and then laughed some more when I glared at him. 

"Boys please, it's already eleven pm and you are still awake. You have school tomorrow, both of you", Mrs Rogers voice came loudly from the kitchen. 

"Yes mum!" Steve yelled back and then stood up. "Come you need the rest."  
Steve held a hand out for me and I took it gratefully as he helped me to stand up. 

"Did you even read the books?" I asked him. 

"Of what? Sherlock Holmes? Of course I did, why do you ask?" 

They went through the hallway and the stairways up to Steve's room. Since I had some nightmares in the beginning, Steve insisted that I would sleep in his room. Of course I argued against it and denied that I didn't have nightmares and I could take care of my own, thank you very much. But Mrs. Rogers found that a good idea too and no one argues with Mrs. Rogers. 

Steve opened the door to his room just as I said: "Because even though Robert Downey jr. is my favorite actor and he does a hell of a good job in being an actor and the movie is really, really good too, it has actually not much to do with the original Sherlock Holmes."

"Why not?" Steve asked curiously as he bounced on his wide bed and slipped under the covers. 

We did already made ourselves ready for bed but then I heard that Sherlock Holmes is displayed on the TV and I love the movie and convinced Mrs. Rogers to let Steve and I watch it. 

"Because in the books Sherlock Holmes' character is different, he didn't fight that much and he was never against John's and Mary's marriage and had no affair with Irene Adler", I explained as I crawled under my own covers. Steve's small room now had two beds in it since we carried the one I woke up in into his room. 

"Yeah, true. Still a good movie", Steve yawned and rubbed his face into the soft pillow. It was cute. 

"Yes", I sighed. "Good night."

"Good night", Steve answered and then promptly fell asleep. His breath evened out and his face looked peaceful, young and vulnerable. I would have loved to kiss those wonderful soft looking lips of him, to draw the lines of his body with my hands to remember every single thing and to cuddle my head in his neck to breath in this stunning scent. He smelled like sandal wood and honey. 

I closed my eyes, wishing I could rest peacefully and not think about this. Steve would never be interested in such a broken, stupid guy like me and it will hurt less if I don't even start in getting my hopes up. It was difficult when every time Steve looked at me, he had so much love and warmness in his eyes I could choke on it. 

I sighed into my pillows and pulled the bed sheets over my head.   
"Stupid Tony, stupid, stupid, stupid", I cursed myself silently and then truly tried to sleep. 

"Tony!" Someone screamed and I jerked awake widely looking around to make out the source of the voice. It was dark in the room only the soft light of the moon provided some seeing. I could make out the shadows of a cupboard and a desk, a door and a night stand, but otherwise the room was empty.   
Where was I?!

I swallowed heavily. I was not in the room with Steve anymore. My heart beat rapidly in my chest and my breath quickened.   
Fuck, what happened? Where is Steve and how did I got here. 

"Tony!" Someone yelled again and this time I recognized the voice. 

"Dad", I gasped. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no... Please, no. Gosh, please don't let it be him, don't let it be him!

Heavy footsteps echoed through the hall outside. 

I shook all over. Goosbumps tickled on my skin and I shuddered. I curled up into a ball, trying to shield my body with the bed sheets that strangely were still the ones I covered my self with last evening. 

"Tony", the voice singsonged now and the footsteps became louder. 

"I know you are here. Come out and play with me, Tony!" Dad laughed loudly. "You know the game with the belt? You were a naughty boy Tony. Making yourself comfortable in another ones house. Did you think I would forget you? Did you think I would just leave you alone?"

The footsteps grew more loudly and more loudly. I peaked a glance from under my covers, resting my eyes on the suddenly huge looking door. The door was black. It looked like a giant shadow, the door towards hell. 

I whimpered silently as I heard the footsteps stop. Directly. In. Front. Of. My. Door.

"Are you in here Tony?" Dad singsonged happily, cruelly. "Should I come in and see for myself?"

I bit my lip. The flavor of blood spread over my tongue. 

"Hello darling!" Dad laughed and threw the door open. 

I screamed as loud as I could as I saw a giant shadowy man standing in the door way, before my whole body shook and I found myself in Steve's room with Steve standing over me, looking worriedly in my eyes. 

"Tony, are you okay? It was just a nightmare, just a nightmare. Everything is fine. Gosh, you bit your lip, you are bleeding." Steve whispered nervously and out of breath. 

"Is everything okay? Are you alright?" The anxious voice of Mrs. Rogers came from the door. "Tony are you okay?"  
She hurriedly walked over and kneeled next to me. 

I clenched my fists around the bed sheet, my eyes flickering between Mrs. Rogers and Steve.   
"I am sorry", I whispered and sobbed harshly, trying hard to stop the tears from falling. 

"Don't be sorry, it's okay Tony. Everything is alright. You are fine." Mrs. Rogers hand rubbed my back and Steve sacked against me, wrapping me in a huge hug.   
The wonderful smell of sandal wood and honey flooding my senses and calming me down again. 

I didn't know for how long we sat there just comforting each other. Mostly me but Steve and Mrs. Rogers were nervous from the sudden adrenalin rush too and had to calm themselves down. 

Then, I didn't even realized it, Mrs. Rogers stood up and left the room. I thought she may have said something to Steve but I was too occupied in holding Steve as close as possible that I didn't even heard it. Only as Steve slowly and carefully made his way out of my hard embrace I realized that I were only Steve and myself sitting in the room. 

"Are you okay? Do you want to go back to sleep?" Steve asked me worriedly. 

I nodded even though I knew I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep anytime soon.   
"I am sorry for waking you up, I am sorry for bothering you and your mother, I think... I think it would be better for me to go back home", I whispered and couldn't help but to sob again. 

"What? No, you are not going back to HIM. Don't you dare say something like that Tony, don't you dare. We want you to be here!"

Silence. 

"Please Tony, say something", Steve pleaded. 

I nodded. "Okay. Can I... can I sleep with you... In your bed I mean?" With hopeful eyes I looked up at Steve who smiled a sad, small smile and then nodded.   
"Of course you can, of course. Just... come." He held out his hand for me and again I took it gratefully letting myself be helped to stand up and lead to Steve's bed. 

"I... thank you", I whispered as I lay beside Steve. 

It was warm in his bed and soft and every thing smelled like sandal wood and honey. I loved it!

Although I thought I wouldn't be able to sleep again, with Steve's solid presence beside me, his arm around me making me feel protected and safe, I fell back to sleep rather quickly again. 

I woke again to a shrill sound ringing on the nightstand and groaned loudly as I rolled over, just to be directly in front of Steve's smiling face.   
"Wha..." I frantically scrambled backwards and then hit the floor with a loud "THUMB" as I fell off of the bed. 

Steve laughed heartedly as I remembered what happened last night and then he said: "That is not a nice good morning greeting Tony."

He looked over the bed frame down to me and I huffed at the amusement in his eyes.   
"Sorry sleeping beauty I was shocked you already were awake, I thought I could kiss you to wake up", I smirked and felt even more smug when I saw the deep blush creeping up Steve's face. 

"Don't be so shy Stevie Boy, no need to blush like a tomato", I laughed again and then stumbled on my feet to go into the bathroom. "If you want, you can visit me in the shower." I winked at him and laughed again as Steve groaned loudly and hid his face in his hands. 

After I made myself ready, I went down into the kitchen, for Mrs. Rogers always made sure that her boys had eaten something before starting the day.   
I didn't miss the worried look in her eyes as I sat down to nurse my cup of coffee and push down my muesli before I would go up again to brush my teeth. But I was happy she didn't say anything because I hate talking about feelings and even more so in the morning shortly before I would be forced to go to school.   
Shortly after eight we left the house and made our way towards Shield High. Steve was a fast walker so I skated beside him on my long board to catch up with him. 

"No but I think it would be extremely cool to build rockets on it", I argued. 

"No Tony, it would be dangerous and probably give you a lot of injuries, maybe worse", Steve said sternly. 

"Oh come on, don't be such a party pooper, I would take really high safety measurements before testing the hoverboard I want to built."

"I am not going to win this fight anyways so do what you want but don't come crying to me like a baby when you crush into a wall", Steve huffed. 

"As if that would happen!" I crossed my arms over my chest. 

"Oh I think you would do it on purpose just to look if your hoverboard could actually withstand a wall", Steve rolled his eyes. 

I humpfed but didn't argue further because I knew it was true what he said. 

When we arrived at school Pepper, Rhodey, Sam, Bucky, Natasha, Clint and Bruce came running to me, greeting me happily and asking if I was okay.   
They visited me through out the two weeks but well it was nice to finally meet them outside the house of Mrs. Rogers. 

"I am okay, don't fuss so much, everything is cool and smooth as I am", I smirked and Pepper rolled fondly with her eyes as Clint said: "Yep, definitely okay."

I out my long board into my locker and then made my way to my first two lessons of history together with my friends.   
It was good being back again. 

I spent my whole time in school to draw new blueprints for the hoverboard I wanted to built, a new AI, a sentinel coffeemaker and a game boy that actually could do holographs. After school Steve and I went to the comic book store, discussing about who was cooler, Iron Man or Captain America. Steve was for Captain America and I proudly stood for Iron Man. 

"Of course you like Iron Man, he literally has your whole personality!" Steve rolled his eyes but grinned at Tony. 

"And Captain America has yours so..." I started and laughed. 

"I ship them", Steve grinned.

"What?" 

"I said, I ship them." Steve smiled shyly and stroke his neck. 

"Yes, but... Uhm... okay", I shrugged and made to go pay my comic books. 

I didn't knew if Steve did this on purpose but we just said, Captain America and Iron Man have the same personality as we both and then he said, he would ship them, like, what the fuck even? It was probably nothing Tony, don't interpret so much into it, it will just get your stupid hopes up and we all know that is bad. Steve probably didn't even recognize it. 

I sighed before I left the store to wait outside for Steve. He paid for his comic books too and then we both made our way to starbucks.   
It was warm outside, the sun shone brightly, birds chirped and people happily made there way through the streets as Steve and me sat down on a bench in the park to drink our coffees in peace.   
Steve had a vanilla frappuchino with extra topping and I honey blossom latte. 

"We actually have to do homework", Steve said with a boring tone in his voice that showed just how much he would love to do them. 

"We actually have to be at your home and eat your mothers lunch", I countered. 

"True", Steve laughed. "She probably did too much again."

"No, she probably has exactly the amount of food you eat and for me an ice berg!" I exaggerated.

"Lol, probably!" Steve laughed. 

"Did you just say "lol"?" I asked amused. 

"Yes, why?" Steve grinned.

"Oh that's so old! Please don't say that again. No one says that anymore."

Steve smirked challengingly. 

"No, please!" I pleaded. 

To late. 

"Lol, lol, lol, lol, lol, lol, lol!" Steve laughed loudly. 

"No stop it!" I covered my ears and groaned loudly. 

"Lol, lol, lol, lol, lol, lol... Stop it if you want! Lol, lol, lol, lol, lo- humpf!" 

Steve stopped abruptly as I pressed my lips against his. It was fierce but short and when I pulled back I looked up into Steve's shocked face as I myself needed time to realize what the fuck I just did. 

"Tony?" Steve asked unsure. 

I looked shocked down onto the ground, not able to look into Steve's eyes. 

"Oh my god. What did I do?" I whispered to myself. Shit.

Fuck, fuck, Tony, why the fuck do you always have to fuck every thing up!!!  
Steve will probably never speak to you again you idiot. So much for a good day. 

"Steve, I am sor-" I started to apologize but was interrupted by Steve: "Don't you dare apologize for that!" And then he leaned forward, taking my wrists and pulling me towards him. He kissed me again. At first I was too shocked to do anything but let him doing it but then I closed my eyes and started to kiss back. I was lulled into a cover of honey and sandal wood. Steve was warm and his lips were as soft as I always imagined they would be. First I hesitated a bit, nipping on Steve's soft lips, tasting him, trying to remember every second of it. Then I wound my arms around him, pressing him to my chest so we would be closer. Steve wrapped one arm over my head to keep me locked to his lips the other one pressing my upper body against his.   
The soft kiss turned into a harsh one and soon Steve's tongue slipped into my mouth, exploring every corner of it. 

"Mmh", I moaned into his mouth.

"I love you Steve", I mumbled in between kisses. 

"I love you too, Tony."

It was the best thing anyone ever said to me. Might be a good day after all!

**Author's Note:**

> So first chapter is over, I hope you enjoyed it ;), please review!


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